


Shameless (U.S.) & ER comparisons

by luvtheheaven



Series: Metas I've Written (Various Fandoms) [3]
Category: ER, Shameless (US)
Genre: Accidental Drug Use, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Bipolar Disorder, Chicago (City), Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Class Differences, Class Issues, Foster Care, Mental Health Issues, Other, Overdosing, Poverty, Suicide, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-23
Updated: 2014-11-23
Packaged: 2018-02-26 18:41:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2662370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luvtheheaven/pseuds/luvtheheaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Not a fanfic, just a meta.</p><p>Originally posted to tumblr, <a href="http://luvtheheaven.tumblr.com/post/103067625372/shameless-u-s-er-comparisons">here</a>.</p><p>A meta analysis essay/discussion of some of the many things these two Chicago-based shows have in common in terms of overall tone, use of queer characters/storylines, rape, very young children overdosing on illicit drugs, bipolar disorder, suicide attempts, poverty, explorations of class differences, etc., etc.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shameless (U.S.) & ER comparisons

So I just finished watching the whole series of _Shameless_ so far (so seasons 1-4), and even though I've also watched the entire series of _The Good Wife_ within the past year for the first time as well, and both series take place in Chicago... _The Good Wife_ mainly deals with a much more upper class look at life in that city.

But _Shameless_ and _ER_ both have a surprising amount in common, I think.

( _ER_ is a show I watched from around 2003, catching up on all older episodes, then continuing live with it until it ended in 2009 - and I've re-watched many episodes much more recently, as it's become one of my favorite shows of all time, and I run the [CountyGeneralVidders](https://www.youtube.com/user/CountyGeneralVidders/videos) [collab group](http://vidders-vidding.wikia.com/wiki/Our_Terminology#C), and [have vidded ER on my own](http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8641379F6425C5DC) quite a bit, etc, etc.)

I mean yeah, they both really show both Chicago winters with tons of snow and Chicago summers with heat, and [the El (L? I always spelled it as EL in my head, I think.)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_%27L%27) But I think there's a lot more to it than that.

I mean, these are the only two shows I've ever seen that not only deal with a mother having bipolar disorder and VERY realistic portrayals and realistic suicide attempts, but they also deal with the fact that the disorder can be genetic very explicitly in both series. (On both shows, before it manifests in any offspring of the mother the possibility is discussed, and then on _ER_ Eric ends up with it, not Abby, and on _Shameless_ Ian is the one who gets it.) I've also seen bipolar disorder depicted on _Friday Night Lights_ , and I know it's handled on a number of fandoms, but the way they handle it on _ER_ and on _Shameless_ are two of the best possible portrayals I can imagine.

Brief personal story: [my uncle, who was not bipolar but rather suffered from depression, committed suicide almost-exactly 1 year ago today](http://navajotimes.com/news/2014/0114/010214nmai.php) by jumping to his death from the highest floor of a museum onto the lobby floor, and I was there, was with him all day before he died too, as was his wife and his son and my own dad (his wife's brother) and also the general public was there, I guess... and let me just say, the way episode 2x11 of _Shameless_ handled Monica's suicide attempt felt VERY very real. The way everyone was reacting, the time/place/way she did it - getting up and simply saying "I'm gonna go wash my hands" - that is what it's like. All of it. Even the cleaning up the mess at the beginning of the next episode - I remember my dad and I mentioning how it was kind of, in a way, better that he did it in public, because [we were reading](http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/11/american-indian-museum-evacuated-after-man-falls-to-his-death-97286.html) the [news articles](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/23/museum-of-american-indian-death/3688199/) on [the story,](http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/death-at-national-museum-of-the-american-indian-investigated/2013/11/23/1a83cdea-5493-11e3-a7f0-b790929232e1_story.html) and people in the comments were talking about how he _should_ have killed himself in the privacy of his own home and that it was horrible of him to force all of the random museum attendees to witness his death but seriously, it's kind of a blessing in a small way that his family didn't have to deal with finding his body, figuring out how to clean up a mess (for instance if he'd used a gun), contacting authorities, etc. In fact it's nice, too, that my aunt and cousin can go home and not have to walk through the room where their husband/father died. What Monica did happens to people every day, and it's horrible, but I love how REAL the show _Shameless_ was able to be about all of it, and I feel the same things with Maggie's attempted suicide on _ER_ in episode 7x19 "Sailing Away".

Btw, I would totally recommend you watch this video:

 **Abby & Maggie - ["What If" by SafetySuit] (mother/daughter relationship tribute)** <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GewxwLxV5gk>

Anyway...

Both series discuss things like the ability to afford tuition, and deal with people being of a variety of social classes and what these differences can mean when it comes to social interactions. ER takes place in a nitty gritty, realistic inner city hospital where many of the patients don't have health insurance, where homelessness is never forgotten, etc. ER has characters like nurses Abby Lockhart and Sam Taggart who didn't come from the most amazing childhoods, who struggle with their jobs to [make ends meet](http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/make+ends+meet), Abby struggles with alcoholism very realistically and also relapses realistically throughout seasons 7-14 and Sam is a single parent raising a son who she gave birth to at age 15.

Both shows are the only two series I've ever seen that deal with a very young child who is related to the actual main characters (not just a random patient) overdosing on illicit drugs. Ella, Elizabeth & Mark's baby daughter who's only about 1 year old in _ER_ 's episode 8x13 "Damage is Done", and a 3-year-old Liam in both episodes 4x05 and 4x06 of _Shameless_.

Both shows deal pretty explicitly with abusive parents/abusive relationships/neglect/etc in a way that most shows don't, and both just are shows with such dark tones at times. Both seem to strive for realism as much as possible. Both even have one gay main character despite them not being the main focused upon character of either show. Kerry Weaver on _ER_ had two main female recurring love interests, was called a dyke by a man she fired, had other fellow coworkers accept her homosexuality, had difficulties because the laws in the USA/Illinois wouldn't allow her to legally marry her wife or adopt her wife's biological son despite both of them being completely equal mothers to Henry etc. And Ian Gallagher is the main character on _Shameless_ who is gay, although one of his 3-so-far recurring love interests, Mickey, seems to have some of the most serious storylines surrounding queerness and also seems to be becoming a main character next season. But regardless, I see a lot of realism, dealing with real issues, and handling of the topics with care and grace.

Both shows have main character's parents who die of cancer over the course of the show, main characters dealing with terminal illnesses themselves, at various points extreme violence and also both have main characters we care about being raped at gunpoint, acknowledgement of siblings being caretakers for other siblings sometimes (on _ER_ one might remember Greg Pratt living with his mentally handicapped brother Leon, or Abby dealing with taking care of Eric during a bipolar episode), and exploration of how the U.S. Foster Care system works - there is a lot more foster system stuff on _ER_ than on other hospital shows I've watched. And _Shameless_ deals with it not only when the Gallagher kids get taken into custody/their home inspected but also when Veronica  & Kev foster Ethel and her son... Etc.

 

If nothing else, I feel like a lot of people who like one of the two series would be _very likely_ to enjoy the other series as well.


End file.
